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Java Ferns
William Bragg
>I have a java fern that has what I think may be spores. But I don't even
>know if I am using that term correctly. On one leaf there is small brown
>"bumps" pretty uniformly spaced in two columns from the tip of the leaf to
>the bottom of the leaf. What are these? Normal? Healthy? Unhealthy? I have
>looked in my books and the internet but found nothing specific. I believe
>that Java Fern develop adventitious plants (is that the right term?). Is
>that what this is?
The spots are the places where spores would be released into the air if the
plant was growing emersed, but Java ferns do not reproduce sexually under
water. In fac they are very difficult to reproduce sexually even emersed
under cultivation. What often happens when a leaf develops spores as your
has is that when it begins to deteriorate, it will develop new plantlets
(lots of them) at the site of each of these spots. It's a quick way to get
hundreds of new plants off a single leaf. Of course, then you have to find
space to grow them all out...<g>
Karen